1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to indirectly fired mines having a large firing range, called zone action mines, for engaging armoured vehicles, including a mount with a base containing a system for detection and azimuth localization of targets by seismic and acoustic means and at least one ammunition launching tube; the system is adapted to aim the tube azimuthally and an antitank ammunition is fired with a fixed elevation towards the position where the distance between the mine and the target is minimum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mines of the above-defined type with indirect firing have already been proposed whose main advantage over directly fired mines is that they do not require a direct hit by the ammunition and so a direct view, which interferes with camouflage. Among the indirectly fired mines already proposed may be mentioned the zone action aerodispersed mine "ERAM" which uses ammunition called "skeet"; among other drawbacks, it is only efficient if the target passes at a short distance from the mine.
A mine is also known (German Patent 23 36 040) whose firing tubes are aimed both in azimuth and in elevation; the ammunition is for direct hit which requires the field of firing of the mine to be clear. French 2 518 734 describes a number of theoretical mine designs, one of which includes tubes whose elevation is fixed. Each projectile has a detector for scanning the ground along a spiral path when it falls suspended on a parachute. The ammunition is not self propelled and its explosive charge is directed along the main axis of the ammunition. The lack of initial aiming and of dual detection results into a system which is very heavy and the efficiency of which is poor.